Who is the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition?

Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Pot dispensaries forced to shut down await court ruling - The Denver PostAbout 99.9 percent of her business comes from the sale of medical marijuana, but Amber Ostrom, owner of Plants 4 Life, will have to make do selling acupuncture and other services.
The medical-marijuana dispensary in downtown Castle Rock was shut down by the town after officials said selling weed is illegal under federal law.
Town Clerk Sally Misare issued her decision Dec. 19, revising the business and tax license of the store to exclude the sale of medical marijuana.
Ostrom can still offer acupuncture, message therapy and holistic medicine at the store on North Wilcox Street.
But not having a chance to build a clientele for the wellness services since opening in mid-October, Ostrom worries that her $30,000 investment could be lost forever. She acknowledges that almost all of her sales had come from medicinal marijuana.
"You can't just issue things left and right, then just take them away," Ostrom said. "I thought things would go in our favor. It's a clean facility and run like a doctor's office."
Ostrom and other dispensaries that have been shut down may get a court ruling this week that could have a big say in their futures.
In October, Centennial shut down the CannaMart dispensary, so CannaMart sued. An Arapahoe County District Court Judge is expected to rule in the case Wednesday.
Ostrom said she too is considering appealing the ruling in district court.
The town council in November instructed the Castle Rock's town manager to enforce codes already on the books that prohibited anything that was illegal under federal or state law.
"We didn't outlaw medical-marijuana dispensaries or put a ban," Castle Rock Mayor Randy Reed said.
"We just recognized in our code that we're not supposed to do that."
He was not sure why the town granted the license to Plants 4 Life in the first place. Another medical-marijuana facility also was granted a license, but that business has since left town.